3 MEN APPEAR IN UK COURT CHARGED WITH HELPING HONG KONG’S FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE – Accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service between December and May
Three men charged with assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service in Britain appeared in a London court on Monday (May 13) after a series of arrests across England.
Chung Biu Yuen, 63, Chi Leung Wai, also known as Peter Wai, 38, and Matthew Trickett, 37, were each charged with two offences under Britain’s National Security Act, which was passed last year and introduced new measures to target threats from foreign states.
They are accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service between December and May by “agreeing to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception” in Britain, according to the charges.
The second charge alleges the three men conducted “foreign interference” by forcing entry into a residential address in Britain on May 1.
The three men, appearing in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, were not asked to enter any pleas to the charges and they will next appear in court at London’s Old Bailey court on May 24. All three men were granted bail.
The Chinese Embassy in London accused Britain of fabricating the charges and said it had no right to interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs.